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Will the Syria endgame include ISIS?

The latest reports indicate that Aleppo — the last stand of "moderate rebels" — is about to fall to attacks by Syria's Assad regime, bolstered by Russia. They claim the target is ISIS, but new reports indicate that Assad helped create the Islamic State. We hear what that could mean for US policy as Donald Trump prepares to take over from Barack Obama.

FROM THIS EPISODE

The incoming administration announced another cabinet choice today: Doctor Ben Carson to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. He's a retired neurosurgeon and former candidate for President until he gave his support to Donald Trump. Here's an excerpt from Carson on Fox News late last month. Emily Badger, who covers urban policy for "The Upshot" at the New York Times, says the choice was a surprise to many – and for many a cause for concern.

Secretary of State John Kerry said last year that Syria's Assad regime helped create ISIS — to distract the US by aiding alternative enemies in the region. Defectors from his regime now claim Assad has even attacked his own facilities — using agents he sent to infiltrate both Al-Qaeda and ISIS. Donald Trump insists that, “Syria is fighting ISIS,” hinting at closer US relations with Syria -- and with Russia, Assad's ally in bombing so-called “moderate” rebels. We look at the possible consequences of changing American policies in the Middle East, where nothing ever is what it seems to be.

Native American "water protectors" celebrate that the Army Corps of Engineershas denied an easement for the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipelinenear Cannon Ball, North Dakota, December 4, 2016.(Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

Yesterday the voices of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe and other protesters at Standing Rock were raised in victory after the Army Corps of Engineers announced it would not permit completion of the Dakota Access pipeline. But last night, Energy Transfer Partners said it would resume construction anyway.